REVIEW: I Am The Avalanche – “Avalanche United”

I Am The Avalanche / Avalanche United / I Surrender

For I Am The Avalanche, there’s no “off button”. Even if every band strapped on a keyboard and indulged in The Chemical Brothers, the Brooklyn group would still be there amidst all the change, powering through melodic hardcore bursts with sweat, tears and emotion running down their face. That’s the definitive vibe their sophomore issue Avalanche United gives off. While tracks like “Holy F*ck”, “Gratitude” and “You’ve Got Spiders” chug with order, the album’s underbelly is unexpectedly full of grit, remorse and sensitive punk hooks that lash out and stimulate your conscious. Blame can be put on the new material being written with adrenaline in just under six months, or how Vinnie Caruana’s vocal pipes trap addictive lines about friendship and loss with ferocity – an attribute many vocalists can’t communicate through 12 songs, let alone match the cathartic one-two punch of “Amsterdam” and “I’ll Be Back Around”.

There lies the backbone of both I Am The Avalanche and Avalanche United. The ensemble shows no real strain to be attractive, their work simply boasts an immaculate flow that has the listener reminiscing about getting lost in a city with a camera in one hand and a parking cone in the other before they shout at the top of their lungs about one day catching perfection. And it’s all done through rippling chord riffs, cutting vocal/drum rage (“Dead Friends”) and classic melodic punk melodies (“The Gravedigger’s Argument”) that let guests like Anthony Raneri add to the rampant personality. I Am The Avalanche don’t do quiet; it’s not in their blood and though there will be interest to see more diverse takes that don’t picture Caruana screaming like a rebellious emotionally-charged teenager on top of Brett Romnes’ half-destroyed kit, sometimes it’s just best to accept what’s in front of you. The ear-bleeding won’t stop but neither will the devotion to music being the only thing that matters.